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The Phases of Pandemic in Disaster Management

Disaster management planning helps prepare in advance for the unexpected. Among the steps taken in recent years to mitigate the effects of disasters has been the World Health Organization's creation of a global influenza preparedness plan, which includes a list of six phases of a pandemic.

  1. No infection in humans

    • In Phase one, humans have not yet been affected by an influenza virus, although it may have appeared in animals. There is little or no threat to humans at this stage, although the virus is closely watched. In Phase two, humans have still not been infected, but the threat to people has increased, as animals are carrying a virus that could spread to humans and cause disease.

    On the alert

    • By the time Phase three has been reached, humans have been infected, The virus, however is not spreading person to person yet, expect perhaps when somebody with the virus is in close proximity to someone who was uninfected previously. By Phase four, the virus is spreading in small groups, and over a limited area; but infection is not yet rampant. At Phase five, larger groups of people are becoming infected, and while the virus is still spread over a limited area, the threat of a full-blown pandemic has increased dramatically; additionally, outbreaks must have taken place in two or more countries in one WHO region. The differences between phases three through five are subtle at times, with determination of the severity determined by factors such as how sick the virus is making people how fast it is spreading, and geographical location.

    Pandemic

    • Phase six is much the same as Phase five, only now, the virus has jumped into at least one other WHO region. At this stage, the virus is considered a pandemic.

    Post-pandemic

    • In addition to the six phases of pandemic, WHO also identifies two post-pandemic phases, In the first, infections have fallen below peak levels. In the second, virus levels have returned back to what are considered typical of the season in most countries where outbreaks have occurred.

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